Non-mechanical tracking devices, such as computer mice, are quickly growing in popularity worldwide. Many of these non-mechanical tracking devices utilize optical navigation technology that measures the changes in position of the non-mechanical tracking devices by optically acquiring sequential surface images and mathematically determining the direction and magnitude of the movement.
As an example, in a non-mechanical tracking device such as an optical mouse, optical navigation technology involves capturing an image and then analyzing and tracking the motion of microscopic texture or other features on a surface under the optical mouse. In general, these types of optical mice depend on tracking surface detail and most work surfaces are microscopically textured. When these surface textures are illuminated by a light source such as a light emitting diode (“LED”), a pattern of highlights and shadows is revealed. Optical mice then “watch” these surface details move by imaging them onto navigation integrated circuits (“navigation ICs”).
In FIG. 1, an example of an implementation of a known non-mechanical device 100 is shown above a navigation surface 102. The non-mechanical device 100 may include an optical navigation IC 104, an emitter module 106 and a collimating system 108. The optical navigation IC 104 may include a pixel array 110. The emitter module 106 may include a light source (not shown) such as one or more LEDs and the pixel array 110 may include a plurality of photo-detectors (not shown) such as photo-diodes. The collimating system 108 may include optics, such as lens, capable of collimating received optical radiation into a collimated beam of optical radiation.
In an example of operation, the emitter module 106 may emit emitted optical radiation 112 at the navigation surface 102 at a predetermined angle 114. The emitted optical radiation 112 is then reflected by the navigation surface 102 resulting in reflected optical radiation 116 that is received by the collimating system 108. The collimating system 108 then collimates the received reflected optical radiation 116 into a collimated beam 120 of optical radiation that is passed to the pixel array 110.
Unfortunately, the optical navigation IC 104 and emitter module 106 are not integrated into a single component such as a single IC or wafer, which results in high costs of manufacture for the non-mechanical device 100 and yield issues relating to integrating separate subcomponents. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method capable of integrating the emitter module 106 and pixel array 110 into a single IC. The benefit is more obvious for a laser based illumination system because of the nature of the collimated light source and the steep angle requirement from the light source to the sensor.